My Active Life Optavia Health Journey

Fit Writers: How to Reduce Stress and Lose Weight- Not Even Kidding.

And it’s hard to write about being happy
‘Cause all that I get
I find that happiness is an extremely uneventful subject

– Florence + The Machine, No Choir

 

My days have settled into a new kind of clockwork, a healthy rhythm that feels calm. In fact, what follows may be boring to those conditioned to conflict and drama, or at least tension in writing. I’ve had to save that for my fiction writing and my therapist because otherwise, things feel very balanced. If you want to skip the happy part and go straight to the challenges, scroll to the end. But you’ll be missing part of the point.

A typical day on OptaVia 5+1: 

When I wake up in the morning, earlier and without an alarm clock now, I chew my thyroid pill and drink my first glass of water. I check my phone until my body feels like standing up. I use the bathroom and brush my teeth. I stand on the scale and smile– every day it’s less or the same but never higher. From there I go to the kitchen, start the kettle and add coffee to the press. I stare outside the window and watch for otters and turtles to break the surface of the water in the lake behind my house. When the kettle boils, I pour the hot water into the press and almond milk into my mug, then press the coffee. I pour it into my mug and enjoy the scent. I am awake and not groggy. I feel rested.

I walk to my studio and sit on the sofa. If it’s the first part of the week, I work on the Sunday paper. If it’s the second half, I read from whatever book I have in progress. Most recently this was The Folded Clock, by Heidi Julavits, a memoir I found centering, and a comforting reminder to focus on days being my unit of time– not months or years. Somewhere in those words I feel hungry so I walk to my OptaVia box and choose a fueling. This is usually a bar. I have it with my coffee and sometimes pour a little more. When I am done, I go to my meditation table. I think about my day ahead. I pray. I stretch and go through some yoga cycles. The dog licks my face.

My husband is awake now. I greet him and we talk about the day. Sometimes I sit at the table with him while he eats. We make the bed. I start laundry or sweep the floor or load the dishwasher but only do a little of whatever it is. He goes to work. I put on a little make up and do my hair, even if I’m not going out. This is part of self care now, not letting myself feel a hag just because I work from home. I get dressed. I return to the studio.

If it’s Monday, we have a staff call, a meeting that is unfailingly edifying and encouraging because of who I work for and with. On the other days, I check email and social media and my project list. In a little bit, it’s time for another fueling and I choose one from the box, most often this is a shake and then I drink more water. I work some more or learn something– I’m currently exploring some new training. My desk is full of merged initiatives that often blend into each other– I homeschool and work for a homeschool writing company, I write and am working on a novel, I schedule appointments and pay bills and work some more to make all that happen.

Sometimes I go to lunch. If I do, this will be my “lean and green” meal for the day but more often than not, I fuel from the box. This is because I prefer to have my lean and green for dinner with the family and I’m trying to maximize time out with girlfriends longer than a working lunch. I usually eat at my desk; this is often a flavor of the savory sticks and sometimes, some sparkling water with it.

The afternoon is a version of the same, except now my sons are both awake. They come and chat, ask for things, have ideas– and in between I work. A new school year approaches and there’s planning to do, hockey starts soon and there’s equipment to buy, our scout group is on hiatus and I can wait to buy new gear. Some days there are appointments or odd errands to run. It storms. I have another fueling: another yummy bar. I drink more water. The dogs wrestle. Someone asks me what’s for dinner.

I’m less interested in cooking than I used to be. In fact, on Facebook this week I quipped that while 10 years ago I made three meals a day from scratch, even their gosh danged ketchup, these days the cooktop is where the take out is set. I guess I cook 3 nights out of seven, we order in 2, one of them is a date, and the others my husband grills. I have my lean and green and they have a starch. I drink more water.

After dinner there’s a debate as to who’s turn it is to clean. The laundry gets cycled. All the things the dogs chewed today are swept up. The floors are vacuumed. For 45 minutes I walk and sometimes run and lift as well. I shower. Our house shuts down for the night at 9, when the boys go to their rooms and we go to ours. I make an OptaVia brownie first and sometimes spread it with cream cheese. I drink more water. We watch one show and then we fall asleep. This never takes us long.

These days rinse and repeat.

I miss wine and bourbon. I miss big bowls of buttery salty popcorn most.

I sometimes feel fat and sometimes feel svelte and both of these are sometimes true.

There is still plenty of drama and upset to deal with– just not when it comes to inexplicable health problems and stress. I feel equipped. My therapist still has a job.

I’m a great groove with work, a great groove with writing, and I’m adjusting to my older children having moved. I’m not spending half of my day in a fog. I’ve learned to make space for rest and this means when my tank is half-empty. No more running on fumes.

I get warm a lot. It feels like I have an oven burning within because, oh yeah, I do. It’s called an active metabolism.

I’m completing my third week with OptaVia and have ordered my new box. I loaded up on the chocolate cherry chia bars. I’m down 8 home pounds, 10 at the doctor’s.

If this all sounds too good to be true, don’t be a cynic. It is what it is and what it is is better. I’m better right now than I’ve been in five years, better than I was when I turned 40 and I’ll take my dose of boredom with gratitude. It means I have life points to do other things.

P.S– if you want to give this a try, contact me in the comments or on social media and I’ll connect you to my coach. And if you want to read what led me to this point, click that.

2 Comments

  1. Mel

    July 20, 2018 at 11:06 pm

    I am enjoying reading your journey.

  2. jenniferawilson

    July 21, 2018 at 8:05 am

    Tia Levings, thanks so much for the post.Really thank you! Keep writing.

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